Shoulder pad for garments



May 20, 1947. L. stri-:MANv

SHOULDER PADS FOR IGARMENTS Filed Nov. 1, 1944 IN VEN TOR. .55 5/ 71E/17,60%

Patented May 20, 1947 SHOULDER PAD FOR GARMENTS Lee Siteman, Los Angeles, Calif.'

Application November 1, 1944, Serial No. 561,364 6 claims. (c1. z zss) My invention relates to shoulder pads for ladies garments, and has for its principal object, to provide new and improved shoulder pads, which include simple, lightweight forms of thin flexible and resilient material such vas sheet plastics or the like, which forms are enclosed in soft material such as fabrics or padding, and the padded form enclosed in a sheet or lightweight wrapper or en- Velope, which latter may be either secured by stitch tacking in the shoulder portions of garments, or located in the shoulder portions of Na short jacket-like member of netting or sheer material, which is worn beneath the garment, the shoulders of which are to be lifted and contoured.

A further object of my invention is, to provide shoulder pads of the character referred to. with ties or reinforcing elements disposed transversely across their outer ends, in order to prevent the collapse or crushing down of the outer end portions of the pads due to weight and downward pull of the shoulder portions of the outer garment which overlies the pads.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which: u

Fig. 1 is la, front elevation of a garment adapted to receive the shoulder pads.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the garment.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the plastic form used in the pad. v

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig: 3.

Fig. 5 is a cross section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section taken through the center of the nished pad.

Fig. '7 is a plan view of the sheet of padding material which encloses the plastic form.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the folded cushioning pad or envelope which receives and encloses the form. I

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, Il) designates a sheet of thin material of plastics or the like, having a certain degree of ilexibility and resiliency, semi-elliptic in shape and curvedtransversely so as to nt on top of the wearers shoulder.

Positioned above member I and the straight transverse end II thereof is a sheet I2 of thin, more or less exible material of plastics or the like, substantially circular in shape, of inverted channel shape in cross section and with its cen- I tral portion slightly dished lengthwise.

The side and inner edges of this member I2 are 'suitably secured by an adhesive to the side edges and upper surface of member I0 and the outer rounded end I Il of said member projects somewhat beyond the straight end Il of member Il) and the edge of the central portion of said rounded end is turned downward to form a narrow marginal bead I5.

From its inner end to the bead I on its outer end, member l2 gradually inclines or diverges from member I6, and thus the form comprising said members Ill and I2 is substantially wedge shape in longitudinal section as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 6.

Enclosing the form is a pad which may be of any soft material such as cotton eece, cotton -Wadding, or soft fabric and said pad may be formed with one, two 0r more layers of material.

This padding material is cut in semi-circular form .as seen in Fig. '7 and the end portions are folded over onto the central portion so that the straight edges meet and the curved edges are connected by a row of stitching 1l. Thus a substantially triangular or segmental envelope or container of padding is` provided which receives and covers the plastic form which latter is inserted and withdrawn through the opening between the straight ends of the material forming the pad.

Enclosing the padded form is a cover or envelope I 8, preferably formed of thin, soft, lightweight fabric and which may be shaped and formed the same as the padding heretofore described in Figs. 7 and 8.

Secured by stitching or otherwise to the upper outer edge of envelope I8 is the upper edge of a crescent shaped piece of flexible material, preferably fabric IB@ which provides a tie or stay across the upper portion of the outer end of the pad and thereby prevents the upper outer end of the padded form from spreading laterally as a result of the weight and downward pull and pressure of the shoulder portion of the outer garment that overlies said pad.

The pads thus constructed may be secured by stitch tacking in the outer portions of the shoulder of garments so that when the latter are worn the forms will t comfortably upon the wearers shoulders and the overlying shoulder portions of the garment will be lifted to give the desired effect. l

To overcome the time and labor involved in transferring the pad-s from one garment to another, particularly dresses, gowns, blouses and the like, the padded forms may be secured by tacking same in the shoulder portions of a short jacketlike member, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, and which is worn beneath the garment.

This member is preferably formed of sheer material, for instance, netting, and comprises a back 20 and a pair of front members 2| which depend from the upper ends of the side portions of said back 20. The side edges of the back and front members are not connected.

The lower edges of back and front members 20 and 2| are bound with a tape 22, the ends of which depend from the lower corners of front members 2 I and provide ties which, when connected,.main tain the jacket in proper position upon the wearers body.

Preferably, the lower end of the jacket member just described terminates 'below the bust and above the waist line of the wearer.

Thus, one pair of pads attached to the short undergarment may be used with a number of different garments such as blouses, dresses, sweaters and the like.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided shoul- `der pads for ladies garments, which are simple in structure, inexpensiveof manufacture, and very effective in performing the functions for which they are intended.

It will be understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the'various parts of my improved shoulder pads may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of the invention, .the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. A garment shoulder pad comprising a sub` stantially wedge shaped form, the underside of which is concave in cross section, the top of which is curved lengthwise, a pad of soft, flexible material enclosing said form and a transversely disposed flexible stay secured to the upper portion of one end of said Apadded form for preventing spreading movement thereof.

2. In .agarment'shoulder pad, a form comprising a pair of transversely curved -thin sheets of lightweight material, one sheet overlying the other and inclined relative thereto, the side edges of said sheets being united, a pad of soft flexible material enclosing said form and a flexible stay secured to the outer end portion of said padded form for preventing transverse spreading of same.

3. The combination with a jacket-like undergarment of thin lightweight material, of shoulder pads positioned in the shoulder covering portions of said undergarment, eachof which pads comprises an arched core formed of thin, flexible sheet material and a sheath of soft flexible materia1 wholly enclosing said core.

4. 'The combination with an undergarment formed of thin lightweight material and comprising a back and a pair of front members depending from the upper end of said back, of shoulder pads positioned in the shoulder covering portions vof said undergarment, each of which pads comprises an arched core formed of thin, flexible .sheet material and a sheath of soft flexible material wholly enclosing said core.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 4 and ties for connecting the lower front corners of said front members.

6. A garment shoulder pad comprising a resilient wedge shaped form, the underside of which form is concave in cross section, apad of soft, flexible material enclosing said form and a transverse reinforcing member in the arched outer end of said form.

LEE SITEMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,240,613 Freedman May 6, 1941 2,273,498 Romaine Feb. 1'7, 1942 2,345,527 Bayes Mar. 28, 1944 2,365,280 Lahm Dec. 19, 1944 

